The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

...
As Downtown Brooklyn bustles with last-minute shoppers, even the dowdy Long Island Rail Road terminal on Flatbush Avenue has come to life with festive holiday decor. The slatternly old building is bedecked in wreaths and holly, illuminated red balls, silver trees, princess pines, and all the other appropriate seasonal appurtenances, thanks to the efforts of two commuters who complained about the gloominess they had to endure as they made their way from the station to their jobs at the nearby Williamsburg Savings Bank Building. They convinced the bank's decorators to go to work on the terminal, and the result has proven pleasing to all who seek a respite from the war news and other problems this year....

The LIRR Terminal takes umbrage at being called "slatternly" and "gloomy."

And here's the story of its history and sad ending (note the Loft's store in the old terminal): https://forgotten-ny.com/2010/02/brooklyn-lirr-terminal/

For my money, the old terminal's architecture is much more attractive and inspiring than the new one.

...("Pity they couldn' get ol' Pickle Puss t'put on whiskas or a red suit or' sump'n," says Joe. "I seen'at guy smile one time," says Sally. "Some lady dropped haffadolla onna' floor, an'ne slipped'is foot ova it. She ast'im diddeeseeit, annee sed 'ya missin' ya train, lady, beddagitonbo'ad.' But he was SMILIN'. 'Atshuddatipped'er off.")...

...A 38-year-old building contractor from Bay Shore was hospitalized today after he was bitten by a seal on the beach at Fire Island. Edward Pederson told doctors at Dr. King's Hospital that he spotted the seal basking in the winter sun and thought he might make a fine pet for his children. He picked up the blubbery, and apparently docile, mammal and carried it to his car, but in an unguarded moment let his hand get too close to the seal's mouth. One set of clamped teeth later, Mr. Pederson was doubled over in pain and the seal was flopping his way back to the sea. Mr. Pederson noted that before submerging, the seal looked him straight in the eye and spat a long jet of water in his direction....

I would not hire this idiot to build anything for me.

...A 24-year-old Greenpoint man will be sentenced next week on charges of petty larceny and obstructing a subway turnstile after police caught him sucking nickels out of a coin slot at the Greenpoint station. Chester Madzenski entered a guilty plea at his arraignment before Magistrate Charles Solomon in Bridge Plaza Court, after a subway investigator explained how the trick works: you put a penny in the turnstile slot instead of a nickel, and that jams the mechanism, allowing nickels to back up in the coin channel. After enough have accumulated, you return to that turnstile and apply lip suction to draw the nickels back out of the slot and into your mouth. Said Magistrate Solomon, "this only serves to prove that larceny is a sucker's game."...

That is disgusting, simply disgusting. Subways are filthy. And by the way, the turnstile believes "obstructing" doesn't do justice to the indignity it endured.

...The Football Dodgers, coming off the best season in their history, are looking at the possibility of raising their prices next year. At present, the Grid Flock charges $1.10 and $1.65 at Ebbets Field, compared to the $1.10-$2.20 charged by the Giants up at the Polo Grounds, and with a full house at Brooklyn putting $40,000 in the till, an increase would seem to be warranted. The increase could be even further justified if Larry MacPhail goes ahead with plans to increase the ballpark's seating capacity from 31,000 to 42,000 by adding a double-decked stand in place of the present right-field fence. There are questions about just what such an addition would do to the home-run distances at the park, since the addition couldn't impinge on Bedford Avenue, but if Laughing Larry can figure how to manage it, there could be a cash bonanza in store for both the baseball and football Dodgers....

"The increase could be even further justified if Larry MacPhail goes ahead with plans to increase the ballpark's seating capacity from 31,000 to 42,000 by adding a double-decked stand in place of the present right-field fence."

The opposite of this statement is true. If they increase the seating capacity, then they could increase their revenue without raising ticket prices.

...Don't forget to get your entries in for the Eagle's Ten Best Films of 1940 contest. Judging begins on Monday!...

"His Girl Friday" and "Shop Around the Corner" better do well or this Eagle reader will be miffed. He also wouldn't mind seeing "The Seahawk," "The Philadelphia Story" and "Waterloo Bridge" make the list.

... (I hope they get Magistrate Solomon, he's bound to get off a funny line or two.)...

"Gimme a push George!"

...
Nobody ever said restaurant names had to make sense -- but "Enduro?" Please tell me this joint is run by a guy named Louie Enduro or something.....

Not just saying it, I had the same thought about that name before I read your comment. I'll bet it is a family name, has to be.

... Forget it, Lana. Just forget it.....

Lana should be shooting higher anyway.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was talk of knocking that terminal down in the mid-fifties, when Walter F. O'Malley wanted the site as part of his domed-stadium "Brooklyn Sports Center/Parking Garage" package, but he knew full well he wouldn't be allowed to do it.

There were a lot of different ideas for expanding Ebbets Field pretty much from the moment it was built. There was serious talk about re-routing Montgomery Street, behind the left-field side, and turning the place into a Yankee Stadium-like oval. This was feasible, because the team already owned a parking lot on the opposite side of Montgomery, and the street could have been run back further, but the city wouldn't go along with it. There was never any chance of doing anything on the right field side unless they built out over Bedford Avenue, sort of the way the Fenway Park "monster seats" are cantilevered out over Landsdowne Street -- they actually talked about that, but the engineering issues were apparently too substantial. But Mr. MacPhail's idea of extending the stands into right field in front of the wall is even less plausible --

Now, imagine those center-field stands extended around in front of right field. You'd end up with a 270-foot power alley, and a foul line of about 220 feet. Camilli would break Babe Ruth's record in June.

We had a woman here a couple of years ago who had a similar encounter to Mr Pederson's, only with an otter instead of a seal. "I thought otters were friendly!" she sniffled as the paramedics bandaged her up.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Informed sources in Italy state that any turning-over of Axis-owned ships by the United States to Britain would be considered "unfriendly" and "unneutral" -- but it is doubted in high Axis circles that such a thing will actually happen. The speculation follows a stern statement yesterday by the German Foreign Office warning the US against accepting proposals by the British Minister of Shipping which, it declared, were attempting to "entice the United States into a warlike act."

An undetermined number of Londoners who were gathered at a party singing Christmas carols were killed yesterday when their tenement home took a direct hit from a Nazi bomb. In the street outside the ruins of the building lay bits of tinsel, childrens' toys, and the star from atop a Christmas tree -- spread among bodies dressed in their Sunday best. "It came as a hammer blow," said one survivor. "My wife and I were in the kitchen fixing some food. Inside they were singing 'God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen' and laughing and shouting. Suddenly we heard that awful whoosh of a falling bomb. Thank God my kids are with their grandmother in the country."

British naval rifles last night turned the encircled Libyan base of Bardia into "a hell which a deserter described as 'worse than Vesuvius.'" British forces tightening their ring around the Italian forces in Bardia captured another 900 prisoners and four more large guns, while the Royal Air Force continued its constant bombardment of Italian positions along the coast.

A 20-year-old unmarried waitress from Copiague, Long Islande faces first-degree murder charges after police discovered the bodies of two infants, one stuffed in her bureau drawer, and the other buried in her back yard. Police have also arrested the girl's father as an accessory to murder, and are holding the young woman's two younger sisters for questioning. Miss Emma Louise Chichester was being held under heavy police guard at the South Side Hospital in Bay Shore, and Suffolk County authorities say she has admitted to killing the two newborns -- the one found in the drawer immediately after its unattended birth last Thursday, and the other approximately two years ago. Police tomorrow will search the front yard of the Chichester house for a possible third infant who may be buried there. Miss Chichester's father, 46-year-old Israel Chichester, is accused of helping his daughter dispose of the bodies of the children, and is being held without bail at the Suffolk County Jail.

A month-old baby was served his supper last night on time at the Bergen Street police station, after his mother was arrested on shoplifting charges. 22-year-old Mrs. Laura Holtsman of 183 Cumberland Street was arrested by two detectives who saw her take a sweater valued at $2.69 from a downtown Brooklyn department store. Mrs. Holtsman claimed that she had absent-mindedly picked up the sweater by mistake, along with the items she had purchased. Her baby son was taken to the matrons' room and fed while she appeared in Night Court for arraignment on a petty larceny charge. Her husband, former Navy petty officer Cecil Holtsman, told police that the family had been planning to leave Brooklyn tomorrow by automobile for Cleveland, where he says a job is waiting for him.

("Physical Culture?" Does Bernarr Macfadden know about this?)

A ruling will be sought before Queens Supreme Court Justice Francis G. Hooley in Jamacia tomorrow on the question of whether the city may refuse to award paving contracts to a low bidder on the grounds that the firm submitting that bid is presently under investigation by the Amen Office for corruption. Queens Borough President George Harvey will appear to show cause why six contracts should not be given to the William D. MacDonald Construction Corporation of Flushing. after a lawsuit was filed by a taxpayer demanding that the contracts go to the low bidder, regardless of the status of the Amen Grand Jury investigation of the corruption charges against the firm.

A 15-year-old girl from Portsmouth, New Hampshire who ran away after an argument with her parents has been found living at the Brooklyn Childrens' Shelter. Martha Berry ran away from her parents while the family was staying at a small hotel in Valhalla, New York on October 29th, in preparation for her enrollment in a girls' boarding school in that town, but she refused to go to the school and slipped out of the hotel that night. Her father, a workman in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, alerted the Missing Persons' Bureau that she would probably be found in either Philadelphia or New York. The girl will appear in Juvenile Court tomorrow on a charge of juvenile delinquency.

(America's biggest small town. "With your help and with the help of God we will get the Fulton Street L down in 1941!")

The Willys-Overland Corporation has just received a contract from the War Department to build 1500 "Light Reconnaissance Cars." (Yeah, but they gotta come up with a better name than that.)

Orchestra leader Hal Kemp died last night from injuries sustained in an automobile accident near Madera, California. Mr. Kemp, at age 36 the leader of one of the nation's most popular dance bands, was en route to an engagement in San Francisco when his car collided with another car attempting to pass him. Mr. Kemp suffered a punctured lung, which developed quickly into pneumonia. Although he was placed in an oxygen tent yesterday, he failed to rally. Charges are pending against the driver of the second vehicle, who suffered minor injuries in the collision. Mr. Kemp rose to prominence in the early 1930s after organizing his band at the University of North Carolina, and became nationally popular after a succesful year-long engagement at the Blackhawk Cafe in Chicago, from which he broadcast frequently. He has also made pictures, and has long been a leading recording artist. (A real loss. Kemp's was one of the best "sweet" bands of his time -- gentle and danceable, but never mickey-mousey.)

(50 years? Optimist.)

It's official -- Pittsburgh's Billy Conn will take on Joe Louis next June. Promoter Mike Jacobs signed the paperwork with the New York State Boxing Commission yesterday, in a contract that will give Louis 40 percent of the gate and Conn 30 percent. A date and a venue for the fight have not yet been finalized.

Ask any Dodger fan and they'll tell you that the present Brooklyn infield of Camilli-Coscarart-Reese-Lavagetto is the slickest-fielding aggregation the Flock has ever assembled -- but one statistic is yet troubling. The Dodgers sat at the bottom of the National League in double plays completed last summer, with the final fielding statistics for 1940 showing Brooklyn with only 110 -- compared to 169 for the league-leading Boston Bees. Tommy Holmes speculates that this oddity is no reflection on the fielding skills of the Dodger infield -- rather, it's a reflection on the team's pitching. Of the club's regular hurlers in 1940, only Fred Fitzsimmons consistently produced ground balls, with Fat Freddie's fluttering knuckleball just made to be chopped into the dirt. The rest of the staff, especially Wyatt, Hamlin, Casey, and Davis, are basically fast-ball pitchers, and fastballs tend to be hit into the air. Look for improvement in the twin-killing department in 1941, when Kirby Higbe starts unleashing that wicked jughandle curve of his.

("Tsk," tsks Joe. "T'oity-one erras. Ya boy din'doo so hot." "Ya go fa moah chances, ya make moah erras," sniffs Sally. "Wow," wows Joe. "Willyalookitallem chances 'at Frey got. An' on'y twenny-one erras. Mmm-mmmmm." "Hmph," hmphs Sally. "Ain'choo got someplace ta be?")

Old Timer Freddie Brown, now a resident of St. Anthony's Hospital in Woodhaven, looks back fondly on his childhood days on Prospect Avenue, and the delightful rock fights he and his boys got into with that gang from Windsor Terrace. "We always won," claims he.

And who else but S. Claus on the front of TREND this week...

"Gone With The Wind" will finally hit the neighborhood houses at popular prices starting January 1st, after spending nearly a year in the first-run houses as a premium-priced special attraction. having assumed a comfortable place atop the all-time list of box office hits, easily outpacing such old-timers as "The Birth of A Nation," "Ben Hur," and "The Big Parade." The film will be shown in its original uncut form starting with the Loew's circuit of neighborhood theatres.

(Well this is a letdown. I turn to Red Ryder for stampedes, landslides, floods, and violence, not a bunch of people standing around talking. Has Mr. Harman been evangelized by Harold Gray?)

(Like many single-panel features, Lichty's Sunday page is basically just a week's worth of disconnected subjects -- which seems like it'd be a lot more work. But hey, he's not complaining so why should we?)

("Singer's Midgets" were a famous vaudeville act, many of whom appeared in "The Wizard of Oz." Lanny Ross did not appear in "The Wizard of Oz," but he did voice Gulliver in the Fleischer animated version of "Gulliver's Travels." So why doesn't he call his house "La-La-Lilliput?")

(The tradition of actually hanging presents on the Christmas tree seems to have faded away, although I'd think the prevalence of gift cards might bring it back. I know many cats who would enjoy a resurgence of this practice. And Babs, poor kid, must have some kind of a death wish. Merry Christmas!)

(And to all, a good night...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

What??? Wholesome young apple-cheeked doughboys being led astray by a scarlet woman? What IS this world coming to?

Mr. Hill will be very very happy when his kids are out of school.

A bomber story? Hmph, that's SO 1940.

*Snif.*

And from his seat on high, St. Nick looked down and smiled. Someone will be going for a Christmas Ride.

I'd totally follow a "Connie Conscience and Tommy Temptation" spinoff.

Point of order: Beezie's rich father owns Binks' Department Store, and I don't imagine he'd care to have his loafing, cake-eating son suddenly go to work for the competition. Or, I dunno, maybe he'd think of it as sabotage.

I'll tell ya one thing, Jack is positively not getting his deposit back on that suit.

On the other hand, imagine what you'll save on your electric bill.

Aw, come on, kid -- doncha recognize Uncle Bim in disguise?

 

[Fading Fast]

.. (America's biggest small town. "With your help and with the help of God we will get the Fulton Street L down in 1941!")...

MacPhail could've sprung for a larger add. Conversely, I'd just as soon H. Lennart Funeral Director said nothing.

...The Willys-Overland Corporation has just received a contract from the War Department to build 1500 "Light Reconnaissance Cars." (Yeah, but they gotta come up with a better name than that.)...

...Ask any Dodger fan and they'll tell you that the present Brooklyn infield of Camilli-Coscarart-Reese-Lavagetto is the slickest-fielding aggregation the Flock has ever assembled -- but one statistic is yet troubling. The Dodgers sat at the bottom of the National League in double plays completed last summer, with the final fielding statistics for 1940 showing Brooklyn with only 110 -- compared to 169 for the league-leading Boston Bees. Tommy Holmes speculates that this oddity is no reflection on the fielding skills of the Dodger infield -- rather, it's a reflection on the team's pitching. Of the club's regular hurlers in 1940, only Fred Fitzsimmons consistently produced ground balls, with Fat Freddie's fluttering knuckleball just made to be chopped into the dirt. The rest of the staff, especially Wyatt, Hamlin, Casey, and Davis, are basically fast-ball pitchers, and fastballs tend to be hit into the air. Look for improvement in the twin-killing department in 1941, when Kirby Higbe starts unleashing that wicked jughandle curve of his...

Early in the morning, in a nice, nondescript house in Brooklyn, Mrs. Fitzsimmons reads the sports pages and sadly shakes her head mumbling to herself, "The Eagle, you have to do this to me Christmas week - really?"

... *Snif.*...

And kudos to Dr. Ping and Hu Shee as it's not a holiday they probably know well unless they're familiar with the missionaries' work. Either way, as you said, "snif."

But let's not kid ourselves, we know what Hu Shee really wants to give Terry for Christmas and it's in these odd situations of isolation and cohabitation when stuff like that happens.

... I'll tell ya one thing, Jack is positively not getting his deposit back on that suit....

Also, no one is ever going to insure Downwind and Jack as pilots again - these guys crash planes all the time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A German bomb struck London's Parliament building today within a few yards of the House of Commons, destroying the second-floor Public Bills Office, and causing extensive damage to the 600-year-old St. Stephen's Cloisters. The combination explosive and incendiary device also destroyed the offices of several members of the Commons and those of their secretaries, and obliterated a closed staircase formerly used by the Star Chamber Court. The inner lobby of the House of Commons was damaged enough to render it unsafe for use, and it has been ordered closed.

Anthony Eden took over today as Great Britain's Foreign Secretary, an appointment seen as opening the door to improved relations with the Soviet Union. Mr. Eden's appointment follows the appointment of his predecessor Lord Halifax as Britain's Ambassador to the United States, succeeding the late Lord Lothian.

Royal Air Force bombers flew 1600 miles today to bomb Venice, Italy, with Air Ministry reports stating that the raiders started fires at an Italian oil refinery, as well as docks and factory buildings. The raids were the most spectacular of a day that also included attacks on the German industrial center of Mannheim and its surrounding suburbs, as well as on the French invasion ports of Dunkirk, Flushing, and Calais.

Mystery today surrounds the death of a Greenpoint divorcee whose was brought into St. Catherine's Hospital after a passing milkman found her lying in Franklin Street with a fractured skull. The woman, identified as 27-year-old Mrs. Helen Mikulak Kusar of 111 India Street, was discovered near the intersection of Franklin and Freeman Street early this morning by 23-year-old milkman Wally Kanceler, who stopped just as a car driven by 28-year-old Matthew Seifert also stopped at the scene. The two men put the woman into Seifert's car and took her to the hospital, where Seifert told police he had been on a date with Mrs. Kusar -- an employee of a local metal factory -- but the couple had quarreled and he let her out of the car near Franklin and Freeman. He turned to drive home, and heard her scream -- and pulled over to find her body lying in the street. Mr. Kanceler told a slightly different story -- reporting that he had pulled aside to let another car pass his truck on Freeman Street when he suddenly spotted Mrs. Kusar lying near the intersection. He stated that his truck passed over the woman, but that his wheels did not touch her.

Police today are continuing the gruesome task of digging up a yard in Copiague, Long Island in search of the body of an infant that may be buried there. The possible mother of that infant, 20-year-old waitress Emma Louise Chichester, has already confessed to the murder of two other newborn children, telling police she killed her most recent child, a girl, after "becoming panicky" and resolving "to do away with the child." Miss Chichester, who is under heavy guard at South Side Hospital in Bay Shore, told police that she suffocated that baby with a blanket after strangling her, and locked the body in a bureau drawer. She has also admitted to killing a previous baby in 1938. Meanwhile, Suffolk County authorities are searching in New Jersey for a young woman friend of Miss Chichester, who may know more about the crimes.

Four thousand orphans and underprivileged children took over Loews' Kings Theatre, Flatbush and Tilden Avenues, for the Eagle's annual Christmas Caravan. The youngsters got a sneak preview of the new Technicolor fantasy film "The Thief of Baghdad," which opens for its regular run tomorrow at Loew's Metropolitan.

Some 1000 Brooklyn and Queens soldiers are among the 8000 men of the federalized 27th Division of the New York National Guard back home for the holidays. Throngs cheered and sang "Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here!" as the troops stepped off the trains at Pennsylvania Station yesterday and crowded onto the platforms to greet family and friends. The holiday furloughs will last for ten days before the soldiers return to their bases in the deep South to continue their military training.

(Thousands of grandmothers swarm their neighborhood Loft's to replenish their ribbon candy supply to ensure that all the grandchildren will be able to look it over and say "Bah! Gimme a Snickers!")

(Ask about our Smoked Ham Special.)

(Seriously, though, why does Sabu only get second billing? He's the actual Thief, not Veidt, who just plays the sleazy Grand Vizier. Oh well, I still like the Fairbanks version better.)

(And then make sure you have a lot of clerks assigned to Returns.)

Brooklyn College Student Dana Gross writes in to criticize the Eagle for sensationalizing the allegations of rampant Communism at the school, arguing that the majority of students should not be "smeared for the actions of a few." The EE primly responds by saying it's the Communists who are responsible for the smearing, not the Eagle, which has often printed stories praising the accomplishments of the College and its students.

The literary chronicler of 1920s' Flaming Youth is dead at the age of 44. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald died in Hollywood at a friends' apartment on Saturday, but his death was not announced until today. The author of "This Side of Paradise," "The Great Gatsby," and other books and stories died of a heart attack. He had recently finished "The Light of Heart," a film script, for the 20th Century-Fox studio.

Swing music is going out of style -- and its replacement is already on the scene. A craze for so-called "boogie woogie" music is now evident in nightspots and dance halls, featuring an eight-beats-to-the-bar rhythm that is difficult to play and impossible to ignore. The musical style began among "Negroes in the South" many years ago, and has been widely performed by such musicians as Meade Lux Lewis, Jelly Roll Morton, Albert Ammons, and Pine Top Smith. A few years ago, a shoe salesman named Barney Josephson opened a small nightclub featuring these and other artists, giving New York its first taste of the music, but it wasn't until bandleader Will Bradley and his drummer Ray McKinley began to emphasize "boogie woogie" rhythms earlier this year that the music caught on with Cafe Society.

("C'MON YA BUMS, I'LL TAKE YA ALL ON!")

The New York Americans are on the move, goaded by insults to a 2-1 win last night over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Blame Boston Bruins coach Art Ross for rousing the Amerks' ire, after he called them "a blot and a sore spot on the league, who ought to be scrapped." When that quote appeared in the papers, it roused Red Dutton's boys to a frothing rage, and they proceeded to take it out on the unwary Leafs.

Indians pitcher Bob Feller has been named the unanimous pick for 1940 Player of the Year by the New York Chapter of the Base Ball Writers Association of America. The fireballing righthander will be honored at the Association's annual banquet at the Hotel Commodore on February 2nd.

Connie Mack gave himself a birthday present last week by buying a controlling interest in the Philadelphia Athletics, but being the head man at Shibe Park doesn't mean he's any more optimisitc about the pennant prospects of the franchise. "I expect to be disappointed again," the Grand Old Man of the Game declared, when asked about the A's chances in 1941. Mr. Mack, who will spend his 41st season as Athletics' manager next year, says the Yankees will clearly be the team to beat in the American League.

Branch Rickey may be the head man down in St. Louis, but did you know his son Branch Rickey Jr. is a key man in the Dodgers' minor league apparatus? Young Branch has been appointed the Brooklyn farm director by Larry MacPhail, and as such is presently supervising a vast network of scouts fanning out coast-to-coast in search of young talent. While the field agents are traveling by car, Young Branch is hopping from point to point by plane to confer with each scout about likely prospects for next year. So far forty-five youngsters have been signed to minor-league contracts after impressing at a series of Dodger tryout camps held over the autumn in the South and West.

Jack Benny has won yet another award, this one from the editors of Radio Daily, who have named the gelatinous funnyman its number one comedian and top-ranked overall entertainer for 1940. Bob Hope placed second in the overall category, with Fred Allen coming in third. Won't he be sore.

(C'mon you guys, don't just stand there snarking. This is brutal.)

(And while you're at it, Doc, see if you can do something for poor little Butch here.)

(Isn't it obvious? She's a FIFTH COLUMNIST!)

(Look, Marsh, we've let it slide, but it's FLIES, not FLYS, OK?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Isn't there a nice Rumanian restaurant you could run somewhere?

So far we've seen Santy endorse Camels, Old Golds, and now these things. Guess there ain't no Exclusivity Claus.

Yes indeed, 1940 may yet have more surprises to offer.

Nothing says "Christmas" like tying a guy to a pinball machine with barbed wire and throwing him off a bridge.

I realize that in Tracy's universe all criminals have to have a whimsical trademark, but really -- wouldn't it be easier to just use an alarm clock like everybody else?

"Haven't you got anything in a nice .22? Or maybe a handful of BBs?"

Uh, Dr. Ping? We have a telegram for you from some people in Detroit. Seems there's a problem with your logo.

Wait, she was a schoolteacher? That's a new angle.

It's always nice to find someone who takes pride in their work.

Hey, how 'bout this time Mush is the manager and Moon has to fight. Yeah. I think we could set something up with Mr. Louis.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Mystery today surrounds the death of a Greenpoint divorcee whose was brought into St. Catherine's Hospital after a passing milkman found her lying in Franklin Street with a fractured skull. The woman, identified as 27-year-old Mrs. Helen Mikulak Kusar of 111 India Street, was discovered near the intersection of Franklin and Freeman Street early this morning by 23-year-old milkman Wally Kanceler, who stopped just as a car driven by 28-year-old Matthew Seifert also stopped at the scene. The two men put the woman into Seifert's car and took her to the hospital, where Seifert told police he had been on a date with Mrs. Kusar -- an employee of a local metal factory -- but the couple had quarreled and he let her out of the car near Franklin and Freeman. He turned to drive home, and heard her scream -- and pulled over to find her body lying in the street. Mr. Kanceler told a slightly different story -- reporting that he had pulled aside to let another car pass his truck on Freeman Street when he suddenly spotted Mrs. Kusar lying near the intersection. He stated that his truck passed over the woman, but that his wheels did not touch her....

Further questioning of Mr. Seifert is in order.

...
(Thousands of grandmothers swarm their neighborhood Loft's to replenish their ribbon candy supply to ensure that all the grandchildren will be able to look it over and say "Bah! Gimme a Snickers!")...

My girlfriend is the only person on earth I know that actually likes ribbon candy.

...
(Ask about our Smoked Ham Special.).

Now Lizzie.

... (Isn't it obvious? She's a FIFTH COLUMNIST!)...

Sadly, while we don't know much about Ms. Rankin, we're in the Groucho Marx trap as I'd lose respect for her if she was interested in Slim.

...
Isn't there a nice Rumanian restaurant you could run somewhere?....

Further questioning of Mr. Dizek is in order.

... So far we've seen Santy endorse Camels, Old Golds, and now these things. Guess there ain't no Exclusivity Claus....

Just letting you know Lizzie, the next knock at your door with be from the Pun Police.

....[ Nothing says "Christmas" like tying a guy to a pinball machine with barbed wire and throwing him off a bridge.....

Is that a riff on something that's been done or did you come up with that all by yourself? [He asks with too much of a lilt in his voice trying to mask his concern.]

...
Wait, she was a schoolteacher? That's a new angle....

He kinda just dropped that in there on us, didn't he? But it fits in well with the teacher-student dynamic those two have (or should have) working.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[LizzieMaine]

IT IS INDEED BETTER WITH BUTTER!

And how does Joy sleep like that without mussing her hair? I've asked before and will keep asking until getting an answer.

Oh, and I love WPA art. So there.

 

[Fading Fast]

IT IS INDEED BETTER WITH BUTTER!

And how does Joy sleep like that without mussing her hair? I've asked before and will keep asking until getting an answer.

Oh, and I love WPA art. So there.

How does Joy get her hair to do what it does in the first place? (The Smilin' Jack book's index has a long section on Joy's hair: Joy, hair of, 5,7, 12 -15, 61, 69, 118-121 and then there's the even longer entry: Joy, taking clothes off...)

Oh, and Jack's an idiot.

 

[Harp]

Oh, and I love WPA art. So there.

I fancy WPA art also. Library murals especially. Curious appreciation play at the Oak Park, Illinois
library where political incorrective reigns intolerance over supposed racist winter mural scene depiction.
Said mural sentenced to destruction.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

I jumped on the tomato juice bandwagon. And actually prefer it more then orange juice. The only difference is in 1940 there was no V8 juice. I still do like OJ, these days its the one juice not a lot of people are buying up and I do like that V8 comes in soda cans, for that easy grab and go.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

IT IS BETTER WITH BUTTER!

When I was cooking my way through the Presley Family cookbook and veganizing along the way. I too learned how much better everything does taste with butter. I now add a tablespoon of vegan butter when I make a pasta dish and it sure gives it loads of flavor.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Borough residents were jolted again this morning by the second earthquake to strike the Northeast in the past five days, but unlike the previous tremor, this one struck at an hour when most people were awake to observe it. Brooklyn itself appeared to receive a greater jolt from today's quake than from the previous one, with breakfast tables visbly rumbling when the tremor hit shortly before 8:45 AM. Local police and newspaper offices were swamped with telephone calls from residents wondering what was happening. The Rev. Dr. Ben F. Wyland, chairman of the Brooklyn Refugees Committee, reported that he was sitting in a chair at his home in Park Slope when he felt the entire house begin to sway, and saw his Christmas tree begin "bobbing up and down." Many callers who lit up the Eagle switchboard assumed that there had been explosions, and demanded to know where they were. Reports indicate the quake was felt thruout the entire New York and New England region, and as far away as Montreal, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Speculation that Adolf Hitler may be planning a Christmas Day invasion of Great Britain has the Royal Air Force on full alert, with RAF warplanes continuing to batter likely French embarkation points for such an invasion. Concerns about a possible holiday push by Germany followed a pledge from Berlin that England can expect no "Christmas truce" in 1940.

District Attorney William O'Dwyer today brought the first witnesses before a grand jury in his new crusade against "organized vice" in the borough. The District Attorney declared the crusade yesterday, indicating that all law enforcement agencies in the city will be cooperating with his effort to determine if a large-scale resurgence of organized vice is underway in Brooklyn, in the manner of that once overseen by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, now serving a Federal prison sentence. In Manhattan, District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey has begun a similar crusade of his own, and has summoned for questioning Mildred Harris Balitzer, key figure in the 1936 investigation that sent Luciano to prison.

President Roosevelt will broadcast his annual Christmas message to the nation this afternoon as he presses the ceremonial button lighting the White House tree. All networks will carry the President's remarks. (Or you may tune in here.)

(Joe and Sally, meanwhile, have ducked out from work and headed to Namm's, hoping not to be seen by each other as they scrounge for last-minute gifts.)

Investigators at Floyd Bennett Field are probing the fatal mid-air crash yesterday of a light civilian airplane and a Navy biplane that took the life of a self-described "soldier of fortune" flight instructor and his student passenger. The pilot, 29-year-old Edward Schnieder and his 37-year-old pupil George Wilson Herzog, a builder, of New Hyde Park, were killed when their plane collided with the Navy training craft piloted by 25-year-old Ensign Kenneth A. Kuehner of Minster, Ohio and his student, 25-year-old Seaman Second Class Frank Newcomer, of Rochester Ohio. The Navy plane pulled out of a spin following the collision and landed safely.

(And there, but for the grace of Norman Marsh, go Dan Dunn and Irwin Higgs.)

The former New York social worker implicated in the assassination of Leon Trotsky has been released by Mexican authorities, but is reported not to be heading back to her father's Brooklyn home. Miss Sylvia Ageloff, daughter of a prominent borough real estate man, was arrested by Mexican police following the murder of the exiled Bolshevik by a pick-ax wielding former disciple identified as Frank Jackson. She suffered a mental breakdown following the slaying, and was kept under heavy guard in a Mexico City hospital after denouncing Jackson as "a Russian secret agent who betrayed her." Miss Ageloff and her sister were said to be "heading to the country" to relax and recuperate before deciding on future plans.

The former nurse to Immortal Baby Jean Gaultt told investigators today that she paid the head of the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians $7000 in cash for the privilege of holding that job. Miss Louise Kerfs declared that she was so impressed with the philosophy taught by Dr. James D. Schafer that she willingly gave him the money, and agreed to donate her services without charge "for life" in order to care for the child. Miss Kerfs, who is now out of work and looking for a new job, stated that she began attending Schafer's lectures in 1937 and became convinced enough of his teachings to pay a $100 membership fee to join the cult. The elderly nurse is the first witness to testify in the investigation mounted by Attorney General Harold Bennett into the operations of the sect at its "Peace Haven" compound, located in the former Vanderbilt mansion at Oakdale, Long Island.

("Huh," sniffs Abe "Kid Twist" Reles. "Nuttin' fa' me?" "Oh," smiles Pittsburgh Phil Strauss from his cell at Sing Sing, "t'ere's gonna be sumpin' fa you. Happy New Yeah Kid")

("T'ick green toitle soup," frowns Joe. "Yuck." "It ain' much fun fa t' toitles," scowls Sally. "Whadda toitle evva dota' t'em?")

Bandleader Vincent Lopez defied a case of the flu to bring his band to the Fox Movietone sound studio in Manhattan today to make the first of a series of three-minute musical subjects, to be shown not on theatre screens but on a coin-operated device bankrolled by the President's son. The films, called "Soundies" are part of a venture partnering James Roosevelt with the Mills Novelty Company, manufacturers of an automatic rear-projection machine to be placed in restaurants and bars in the same manner as the familiar coin-operated phonographs. The films differ from the regular theatrical subjects by being shot entirely in closeups by Brooklyn-based producers Arthur Leonard and Dick Hyland, meaning the extras have to be chosen with special care because they will never appear only in the background. Lopez, who braved a fever of 102 degrees to report to the studio, will make a total of eight "Soundies," with other popular orchestras expected to contribute to the series as well.

(Sigh. Ben Blue looks like a comic, walks like a comic, and talks like a comic -- except he never actually does anything funny. And he's the only one of these people I've ever seen or heard of. When this show ran on Broadway, it had Ella Logan and Ann Miller in it, both of whom are worth the fifty cents or whatever they're getting for this production, but clearly Brooklyn doesn't rate top talent. Get on the ball, Mr. Schroth, and write an editorial about this.)

Reader M. J. Stein writes in to commend the teachers who are refusing to appear before closed-door interrogations conducted by the Rapp-Coudert Committee. "No proceeding in recent history smacks sostrongly of star-chamber proceedings as the proceedings of this committee behind closed doors. Can memory be so short that we forget the injustices and atrocities committed in the name of the law by the original star-chamber proceedings?" Mr. Stein further notes that since the teachers have all expressed willingness to testify in public, the ones who really seem to have something to hide are the Committee members themselves.

(My first thought was "what kind of parents give their kids a dynamite plunger detonator thing for Christmas, but then I realized it's probably supposed to be a kiddie cart of some kind. Which, when you think of it, can be almost as destructive.")

Cincinnati's Bucky Walters might lead practically every category in the Elias Sports Bureau's official National League pitching records for 1940, but Brooklyn's own Fred Fitzsimmons has the satisfaction of knowing that not only did he lead the league in winning percentage, but in doing so he set a new National League record in that category. The stout old veteran also managed to hold opposing batters to an average of .2326, good for third place behind Walters' league leading .220 and Kirby Higbe's second-place .231. Fitz and Hig will be teammates next year, and won't that be something.

The Fordham Rams arrive in Dallas on Friday to begin preparations for their Cotton Bowl clash with the Texas Aggies. The Fordham boys are prepared to give the Texans a fight, but the sentiment among the Aggies is not unlike that experienced by one watching a nice plump turkey fattening for the slaughter.

The Football Dodgers, looking back on their most successful season ever, drew a record 146,229 fans to Ebbets Field, best in their fifteen-year history in the National Football League. That record was in line with a league-wide trend, which saw a total of 1,345,861 fans watch a total of fifty-five games, combining regular season and playoff contests. With All Star and exhibition contests included, more than 1,600,000 spectators paid to watch NFL football in 1940. The Dodgers place third in overall attendance for the season, behind New York and Washington. The Football Giants drew 267,646 fans to the Polo Grounds, which exceeds Ebbets Field's capacity by approximately 25,000 seats.

(Yeah, well, I hope when Slappy does recover the power of upright locomotion, his first steps are to walk over and clock both of you smug monkeys right in the beezers.)

(Mrs. Butch's lines must be read in a Molly Goldberg accent for them to make sense. Oy gevalt, I'm tallink you!)

(When the doctor brandishes his pince-nez at you, you know it's serious.)

(Poor Kay has only the one facial expression, that of eternal condemnation to a bleak and loveless existence. But at least she's developing a social conscience.)

 

[Harp]

I fancy WPA art also. Library murals especially. Curious appreciation play at the Oak Park, Illinois
library where political incorrective reigns intolerance over supposed racist winter mural scene depiction.
Said mural sentenced to destruction.

Post Script: said scene depiction features Caucasian children, and while perhaps unfortunate for
its exclusion of African-American kids, is more reflective of the time and not intended to 'traumatize'
any children today. Adults armed with various agenda who advantage children to their own ends
should be ashamed of themselves. And after all the paintings have been scratched, statues removed,
the books will need be burned. The past cannot be denied or erased, but can be maturely understood.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

When I was small, my mother tried to convince me that the red light on top of the radio station tower was Rudolph. Had me going for a while, too.

"It's not true," stomped Mr. Lopez. "She was peroxide!"

Vim was Davega's longtime arch rival in the cut-rate sporting/radio/camera/household goods sector, and they had the advantage of saving a lot of the per-letter cost on their neon signs.

Never mind the face, he's a musician -- go for the fingers!

You really gotta wonder what Dr. Ping did for fun before the war.

Oh, now that's just torture.

Wait'll you get back to your place and find the big surprise that's waiting for you -- Wilmer sitting on the stoop with a half-empty bottle of cheap rye.

Oh my, the foreshadowing. See, Pop has a bit of a crush on Lillums' old Aunt Pruny, who despite her name is actually a real 'gator. Just like Grampa Teen here, flouncing around in his grandson's clothes and making with the jive talk. No doubt in the near future he will sweep ol' Prunella off her feet, leaving poor old Pop broken and bowed among the shattered ruins of all his dreams. Oh, and he's gonna lose his bankroll, too.

PS -- Pat spiked Tracy's milk. Hah!

Aw, and we didn't get to see it?

 

[Harp]

^^^^Blondes have more fun, supposedly.

 

[Fading Fast]

...The former New York social worker implicated in the assassination of Leon Trotsky has been released by Mexican authorities, but is reported not to be heading back to her father's Brooklyn home. Miss Sylvia Ageloff, daughter of a prominent borough real estate man, was arrested by Mexican police following the murder of the exiled Bolshevik by a pick-ax wielding former disciple identified as Frank Jackson. She suffered a mental breakdown following the slaying, and was kept under heavy guard in a Mexico City hospital after denouncing Jackson as "a Russian secret agent who betrayed her." Miss Ageloff and her sister were said to be "heading to the country" to relax and recuperate before deciding on future plans....

Mr. Ageloff: "How much will it cost me to keep her from coming home?...Huh? The country? What's the all-in price?...Wow, that's a lot of money, hmm...No, no, no, that's fine, where do I send the check?

...
("T'ick green toitle soup," frowns Joe. "Yuck." "It ain' much fun fa t' toitles," scowls Sally. "Whadda toitle evva dota' t'em?")...

Was Wong's Garden the restaurant that came in second in our least-expensive Thanksgiving Dinner competition? Also, wonder what H&H is offering for Christmas?

...Bandleader Vincent Lopez defied a case of the flu to bring his band to the Fox Movietone sound studio in Manhattan today to make the first of a series of three-minute musical subjects, to be shown not on theatre screens but on a coin-operated device bankrolled by the President's son. The films, called "Soundies" are part of a venture partnering James Roosevelt with the Mills Novelty Company, manufacturers of an automatic rear-projection machine to be placed in restaurants and bars in the same manner as the familiar coin-operated phonographs. The films differ from the regular theatrical subjects by being shot entirely in closeups by Brooklyn-based producers Arthur Leonard and Dick Hyland, meaning the extras have to be chosen with special care because they will never appear only in the background. Lopez, who braved a fever of 102 degrees to report to the studio, will make a total of eight "Soundies," with other popular orchestras expected to contribute to the series as well....

Sounds like a kinda early music-video thingy.

...
(Sigh. Ben Blue looks like a comic, walks like a comic, and talks like a comic -- except he never actually does anything funny. And he's the only one of these people I've ever seen or heard of. When this show ran on Broadway, it had Ella Logan and Ann Miller in it, both of whom are worth the fifty cents or whatever they're getting for this production, but clearly Brooklyn doesn't rate top talent. Get on the ball, Mr. Schroth, and write an editorial about this.)...

And advertising in the Eagle on Christmas Eve Day, tsk tsk.

...
Cincinnati's Bucky Walters might lead practically every category in the Elias Sports Bureau's official National League pitching records for 1940, but Brooklyn's own Fred Fitzsimmons has the satisfaction of knowing that not only did he lead the league in winning percentage, but in doing so he set a new National League record in that category. The stout old veteran also managed to hold opposing batters to an average of .2326, good for third place behind Walters' league leading .220 and Kirby Higbe's second-place .231. Fitz and Hig will be teammates next year, and won't that be something....

Freddie's on the right.

Mrs. Fitzsimmons, always first to the paper, throws the Eagle down in absolute disgust and goes to get an early glass of eggnog.

...The Football Dodgers, looking back on their most successful season ever, drew a record 146,229 fans to Ebbets Field, best in their fifteen-year history in the National Football League. That record was in line with a league-wide trend, which saw a total of 1,345,861 fans watch a total of fifty-five games, combining regular season and playoff contests. With All Star and exhibition contests included, more than 1,600,000 spectators paid to watch NFL football in 1940. The Dodgers place third in overall attendance for the season, behind New York and Washington. The Football Giants drew 267,646 fans to the Polo Grounds, which exceeds Ebbets Field's capacity by approximately 25,000 seats....

One would start to think this football game has a future in America.

... (Poor Kay has only the one facial expression, that of eternal condemnation to a bleak and loveless existence. But at least she's developing a social conscience.)

Dan is always so awkward when he tries to do normal-people things.

...
"It's not true," stomped Mr. Lopez. "She was peroxide!"...

Nude blondes do pop up in the most inconvenient places. Didn't we have a Page 4 nude blonde in another divorce proceeding recently?

...
Vim was Davega's longtime arch rival in the cut-rate sporting/radio/camera/household goods sector, and they had the advantage of saving a lot of the per-letter cost on their neon signs....

First time I remember them advertising in the Eagle though.

^^^^Blondes have more fun, supposedly.

Apparently, nude ones anyway.